Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Ding! New Badge Earned!

Friends and readers of The Friendly Necromancer! I have now earned the hardest badge to earn in the game!

You can’t imagine what I’ve had to go through to get that badge, but let me see if I can help you understand a bit. Come! Read with me while I explain some inner workings of The Friendly Necromancer that you might not have known before. *insert ominous music*

A few years ago I was sitting in my very safe and secure cubicle at my job, pushing my paper and doing what I do, when suddenly I had a strange and happy feeling that I should send a resume to KingsIsle. I had only been writing about the game for a short time, and I honestly didn’t think much of it at the time other than, “What if something happens?” Much to my surprise I was contacted and interviewed for a Customer Service job, but unfortunately the timing and my situation in life wouldn’t allow for that opportunity to be realized. Time passed and over the years I again interviewed with KingsIsle for a couple of different jobs. For one reason or another, things just didn’t work out.

In fact I kind of gave up on that strange happy feeling and wrote KingsIsle off in my mind. I thought . . . “You know what? I didn’t get into writing about Wizard101 for a job and I’m not continuing my writing just to get a job.” THAT seemed strange to me. Remember that big break I had? Yeah, I was pushing a lot of inner questions at the time. I had to ask myself the question, “Why do I write about Wizard101 so much?” My conclusion was that I just like this game! I like the family focus, the humor, the fun, the depth of gameplay, and I just I like this community of people! Honestly, I didn’t need a job at KingsIsle, and I had a job that I could have easily retired from.

. . . and then it happened . . .

After all those years and after all that thought and after all these hundreds of blog posts, I received a call from KingsIsle’s Marketing department asking me if I’d like to play in the Pirate101 Alpha. I think my exact words were, “YEEEESSSSSSS! YESSSSSSSS! FRED, THAT’S AMAZING!” I literally leaped at the chance and began playing this new world in its infant state. (I think you get my excitement hehe.)

Let me tell you straight up that it’s a great game, and even though NDA binds my hands to some finer details about this game, I can tell you that it has a lot of that same magic from Wizard101 and yet is its own game that will definitely develop its own community. Many people from Wizard101 will love this game, and many people will play BOTH games! For me though, it’s now my job to take the helm of the Pirate101 community for KingsIsle and invite you aboard . . . because about a week after receiving my invitation to Pirate101’s alpha, I received another phone call. *insert even MORE ominous music*

My friends . . . I’ve been hired by KingsIsle to be the new community manager for Pirate101!!!!

I’m still shocked that I’m moving my entire family 1,000 miles from home for this opportunity (as I type this I’m still wrapping up the final details on purchasing a new home here in Texas). Let me tell you, you’d be amazed at how many obstacles have magically disappeared to make this happen. The day we put our house up for sale, it sold in four hours. The day we had a moving sale, it was like there was a patch of sun over our driveway. :) I’d go on, but you’d start to disbelieve me. It’s all true though. These past two months have been amazing!

So where does this leave us? In many ways Wizard101 is where my heart will always be. It’s an amazing game that I will always call home for Thomas Lionblood. As I’ve discussed before, Wizard101 has been such a huge success that it’s not going anywhere, and it’s definitely not being sidestepped for Pirate101. Avalon’s release is a testament to that. It’s an amazing expansion to the Wizard101 story line, and now that I’m on the inside of the company and looking around at this huge company of creative people, I’m seeing that there are plenty of employees who will continue to be devoted to making Wizard101 the AAA MMORPG that it is.

I can also tell you that I’m excited about what I’m seeing planned for Pirate101 and what’s beyond even this product. KingsIsle isn’t slowing down, and I’m overjoyed to be one of the newest employees riding KingsIsle’s wave of providing quality family-based games! WOO HOO!

As the Community Manager for Pirate101, I hope to bring the same information sharing and sense of community fun that we’ve been enjoying through not only my blog, but through all the social media, podcasts, and forums that have celebrated the joy of playing Wizard101. I’m still learning the ropes here and Professor Greyrose is a saint, but I can’t wait to help welcome you to this new facet of the spiral. I think you’ll love what you’re going to see. YARR! WHAT YOU’LL SOON BE PLUNDERING ME HEARTIES!

Stay tuned for more news of the future of this blog, me, and my family. The finer details of the future of this blog are still being discussed. I don’t think it will be fully going away, but all those details will be worked out shortly. Either way, I can’t wait to have fun with the community in Pirate101. I’ll be here and hope you’ll come join me! WOOT!

Congratulations Friendly! I know you will do a phenomenal job with Lydia and the rest of the KingsIsle crew! I hope to continue to see more blog and tweets out of you though! :]Have fun, I can't wait to see what you guys have in store for us!

All I have to say is congratulations. I've followed your blog for a long time, and I know how hard you've worked for here and for ravenwood radio (I should really get back into listening to that).

You really deserve this because of all the hard work you've done, and I know that you'll continue to do more fantastic work over at Kingsile (I can only imagine how hard it was for you move to texas, as I've moved around quite a bit myself).

So yeah, congratulations on landing a job at KI, and until we meet again gamers, god bless, and happy gaming.

Fantastic work! I certainly do not exaggerate when I say that you are perfect for this position. The fact that you're very involved the community, among so many other things, makes you perfect for a position like this.

I've been reading your blog for almost 3 years now and I still enjoy every new post. You deserve this, Friendly for all the hard-work you've done. I couldn't think of anyone more perfect for the job then you.

okay, first of all, congratz, but i got a question.............WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN BY THIS BLOG MAY NOT PERMANENTLY GOING AWAY!?!?!?!?!? does that mean its going to go away for a bit!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? but the important part is that ur living ur dream. gratz dude XD

Community Manager? How the Heckhound am I supposed to beat you now? I cry 'foul'!, lol.

In all seriousness, Friendly, I can't think of a smarter choice for KingsIsle, and I believe that this announcement only secures the future of P101 *that much more*. It's the equivalent of seeing one of us lowly trench fighters promoted to General. Yay, you!

It's a good sign where a company can recognize the Gold in it's own Community, I can't think of a better choice.

I wish you many things, but most of all I wish you *very few*, (if not "zero"), instances where the "needs of the business" conflicts with Community.

Hats, helmets, and hoods off to you, Tom! You truly deserve this, may your future at KI grow and prosper! Best wishes, and Keep Traveling, whether your destination be in the Wizard's or Pirate's Spiral!Des